Will Banning Truck Drivers from Texting While Driving Make America's Roads Safer?

As a former truck driver, I have a unique perspective on the transportation business. Ten years, and nearly 1 million miles of safe and accident-free driving has given me the chance to see the problems that exist in the trucking industry and a few answers as to how to make America's roads safer.

Most people who have never been in a truck will ask you, "How hard could it be to just sit there and hold a steering wheel?" Maybe 40 years ago, that would have been a valid question. In the economy in which we now live, a driver must now wear many hats. Those hat's include those of a Driver, Warehouse Worker, Accountant, Manager, Sales Person, Mechanic and in some situations, even a lawyer. In this article I will explain the many different expectation's and pressures placed on the average truck driver on a daily basis.

Being a truck driver is a lonely, boring job that gets in your blood. If you are cut out to be a driver, there is no other job you would want to do. Your average day consists of driving a 40-ton rig nearly 750 miles toward your destination. What's waiting for you at the end of the day? A 3-foot walk to your bed, parked in a truck stop or a public rest area. As a driver, you eat, sleep and live inside the cab of your truck.

The average truck driver works 70 hours per week and will cover 3,000 to 3,600 miles. You are required to keep a log book showing what hours you drove, ate and slept for the past eight days. You are not allowed to drive more than 11 hours in a day and, after driving, you are required to take a break of at least 10 hours. With the change in the hours of service regulations that came about in 2003, drivers are pushed even more to continue driving while tired, instead of stopping to take a break. That is because the new Hours of Service Regulations do not allow a driver to stop their hours and take a rest break. Once they start their day, they are required to complete their 11 hours of driving time in no more than 14 hours. That is the way it is supposed to be, but some companies will also pressure the driver to exceed those hours and keep driving to get the load to the destination on time. Although this is illegal, the company will still pressure the driver, as it is the driver who will get the ticket for driving over his log book, not the company.

A driver must also be able to memorize laws, which vary from state to state, to be sure he is legal. Some states do not allow a driver to idle his or her truck for more than 5 minutes while parked. Without the truck idling, there is no heat or air conditioning. Some states have different requirements for the distance the rear axle can be from the rear of the trailer, as well as weights allowed on each axle. Most states also require the driver to pull into a weigh station, run by the state for weight checks and inspections. These weigh stations will do a full check on the truck, checking the brakes, engine, exhaust and tires on the truck. If there is a problem, then the driver will get a ticket. Those tickets can range in price from $250 to as much as $5000.

A driver must also be able to manage the finances for his truck. He has to be able to juggle a truck payment that can be as high as $2000 per month, fuel, insurance, maintenance, tolls, plates, permits and of course his own salary. With shippers trying to move freight as economically as possible, and the expenses to operate a truck going up all the time, this juggling act becomes more and more difficult all the time.

The American Truck Driver must also be able to do warehouse work. Some warehouses use a contract labor company to unload their trucks, called a lumper. This service gets paid by charging the driver to unload their truck, charging upwards of $250 for a full truck load. Other warehouses require the driver to unload, sort and palletize the product they are delivering themselves. This takes away from the drivers 70 hours of driving and causes the driver to do work which they are not paid for.

Drivers are also required to be part sales person, as the driver is what a Trucking Companies customer see's. If a driver walks into the shipper looking tired, worn out, unshaven or otherwise is disarray, then it reflects badly on the company.

These are all pressures that lead to problems with safety on the American Highway. Regulations are being passed on a daily basis, requiring drivers to obey this regulation, or this other rule without regard to how it will affect the driver. A great example of this is the 2009 "Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act" or the "ALERT Drivers Act" (S.1536 /H.R.3535). This regulation prohibited the driver from sending a text message while a commercial vehicle is in motion. These types of needless regulations will do nothing to enhance the safety of the highway, and in fact, may even be a detriment.

During the last 10 years, there has been a steady decline in the number of accidents between Trucks and Automobiles. Some studies have even shown that the majority of Car/Truck accidents are caused by the driver of the car. Based on per mile driven, the Truck Driver is much less likely to be involved in an accident than the average driver. This is due to the amount of training required to become a Driver and to continue to drive. Most companies require some sort of on-going training for all of their drivers on a monthly basis. This is in comparison to the average driver who only has to go through additional training after they receive a ticket. A truck driver who receives a ticket is not allowed to go through defensive driver training and have the ticket removed from their record. More than 1 or 2 tickets in a 5 year period will make it nearly impossible for a driver to get another driving job.